Working For Yourself: Law & Taxes for Independent Contractors, Freelancers & Consultants Review

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(More customer reviews)I am a software contractor looking at incorporating. I had looked at LLC options, but some clients require incorporating, so that was ruled out. My best route seemed to be S-Corp. This book answered most of my questions. The "Incorporating Your Business, for Dummies" was pretty good, but not as good as this book. This book has a lot of details and laid some of my worries to rest. It will also save money with your professional team (attorney, accountant) by answering simple, but essential, questions. Definitely worth the money.

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Whether you're an independent contractor, freelancer, or consultant, it all adds up to the same thing: you need to be more aware of laws and taxes than the average person. Fortunately, Working for Yourself provides all the information you need to stay on top of it all. An independent contractor himself, author Attorney Stephen Fishman shows you everything you need to know to:*meet business start-up requirements*set up home or outside offices*comply with strict IRS rules*establish sound business relationships*avoid unfair contracts*draft good agreements*get paid in full and on timeThe 5th edition now provides information on leasing space for work, Health Savings Accounts and solo 401(k) plans. It also examines how to choose a business name, deal with audits, take a home office deduction -- and much more.

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SIMPLY MONEY V2.1 Review

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(More customer reviews)First I'll vent. What I received is not Simply Money 2.1, it is version 2.0b repackaged, which I have already had for several years. Further the publisher identified is not Victory Multimedia but Simply Media according to the packaging. The simplymedia.com web site indicated on the case doesn't appear to even exist. I have not tested the fax # stamped on the CD.
I have used Simply Money for 8 years and am generally pleased with the product. I was hoping to find the much needed bug fixes, including some annoying Y2K issues, fixed in this "new" release.
However if you seeking an alternate to the expensive and bloated Quicken or MS Money, this could be it. The reporting is more extensive and versatile than Quicken. It is easy to setup and use. The stored data are reliable. When windows goes south, I've never lost more than a couple of transactions.
The down side is: this product suffers neglect. Its had too many owners who do nothing. The online banking features are probably long since obsolete, but I don't use them. It is not a bad product and probably could compete with the "big boys" if someone would fix it and bring it up-to-date, a relatively modest effort.
Bottomline: Great value, full featured, quite useable, but needs some fixes and modernizing. It is not a new version , so don't get burned like me.

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H&R Block TaxCut 2008 Home & Business + e-file Review

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(More customer reviews)H&R Block's "TaxCut Home and Business" has been a great choice for me for several years, and each year they improve the product. I ordered the 2008 version today.
This package is remarkable. It includes software for your Form 1040 individual or joint tax return, plus programs to prepare your Corporation or S-Corp (Form 1120), Partnership (Form 1065), or Estate or Trust (Form 1041). State returns for all these is included. Employment tax return preparation (W-4, 1099 and so on) is also included.
For the personal return, electronic filing for federal is included (5 returns), but you will have to either mail your state return or pay a fee (reasonable by my lights) to file electronically. I don't think electronic filing is available for the business returns.
Anyway all this is in the package. Don't overbuy. If you don't have one of the businesses mentioned, just get the appropriate software for 1040 returns. But if you need to file for a business (Corp/Partn/EstTr) plus your individual return, this deal is hard to beat.
Let me end with a few cautions:
If you are buying "TaxCut Home and Business + E-file," you don't need to buy "TaxCut Premium + State + E-file." IT'S INCLUDED. I mention this specifically because they seem to be marketed together on this site.
The forms to be used for this year's income tax haven't been completed by IRS. They will be updating items during the first couple of months of 2009, and there's no way the software I'm buying today can include all of them. So I'll need to go to the HRBlock update site a few times (the software connects and links up) to get updates from both Fed and state.
With all tax software there is a learning curve, so "read the lines," think about what you're doing, allow adequate prep time, and review the results before you file. I think you'll be pleased.
PS - I used to work for H&R Block but have not for several years. I use the software because I think it's the best for the price.

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Guidance for corporate, partnership, and payroll business returns. The Complete personal and business tax return solution from America's #1 tax preparer. Step-by-step interviews guide you through your personal and business tax situation.

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H&R Block At Home 2010 Deluxe Federal + eFile Review

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(More customer reviews)This program refused to install on my window 7 units; 32 or 64 verison. This is after I exchanged the program twice - same result; Called the tech support and it still doesn't work.
However, It does works on my old xp machine; I haven't test it on my mac yet - but I think it should work okay.
But seeing how their software had been plague by tech issues - (last year, I also exchanged the disk twice due to disks failure, one had no program on it.) I am guessing I will start using other tax program next year - too bad too because they were great programs.

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H&R Block At Home Deluxe (No State)
Ideal for Investors and Homeowners
The right choice for customers with more complex tax situations to easily complete their federal returns. Includes the H&R Block tax expertise your customers trust--plus our Maximum Refund Guarantee.

H&R Block At Home Deluxe includes everything your customers need to easily complete their federal taxes--with the tax expertise they trust. With an easy-to-use interface, H&R Block At Home Deluxe searches for hundreds of deductions to get customers the biggest refund. Ideal for homeowners and investors, the program includes personalized tax guidance and features available only from H&R Block, such as built-in expertise and audit support, expert advice from our community of tax specialists, an H&R Block enrolled agent to represent customers in the event of an audit, and, best of all, our Maximum Refund Guarantee.

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Investment Account Manager Review

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(More customer reviews)I too have used Quicken for many years, but when it comes to monitoring investments in multiple portfolio, Investment Account Manager is just superb. The software handles pretty much any investment vehicle: stocks, bonds, money markets, options, etc. All transactions for each account are located in one place.
It's inevitable that one ends up comparing the strengths of this software package with the weaknesses of Quicken: IAM handles options without problems; there are no problems entering transactions involving cash in lieu--particularly if only whole shares are reinvested.
The annualized return calculate by the program is flawless; the charts are intuitive and revealing. After using Gainskeeper on various broker websites, it's great to have a single program that shows me in detail how well I am doing.
The program has a learning curve, but it's fairly shallow and even those with limited experience handling Windows programs should be up and running quickly. The program is secure, so I wouldn't worry about security issues.
The other thing I love is that there are no add-ons--no effort to bundle other essential components. Everything you need comes with the software.
It's a breeze at tax time. If you use an accountant to handle your returns, he or she will love how much easier this program is in handling record keeping.
Great program, easy to use that solves problems you never realized you had. I love this program!


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H&R Block At Home 2010 Premium & Business Federal + State + eFile Review

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(More customer reviews)The BUSINESS product is a disaster. I bought H&R BLOCK Premium and Business at the Office Max web site. The Premium installed fine.
Installation of BUSINESS failed with an error message referencing Wolters Kluwer, a firm I know publishes tax information. After several attempts to install the product, including making a CD image and installing from that, taking nearly an hour, I phoned H&R Block.
After about forty minutes repeating these steps with a tech support rep, he agreed that my CD was defective and said he would send me a download link. It took another ten minutes for him to determine that he couldn't send me the link, because I hadn't purchased the product direct, even though I have used the product for more than 20 years and offered to send him the proof of purchase and gave him the Key Code from the box!!!!
He told me I could return the CD to the store for a refund and buy from H&R Block or exchange it at Office Max. I asked for his supervisor. The supervisor agreed that this was ridiculous and e-mailed me a download link, warning me that I had 24 hours and that I could only download once.
The e-mail said there were 3 steps: click on the link, fill out the form, wait for another e-mail to access the download. He waited that long and we agreed to terminate the call. BIG MISTAKE.
After I filled out the form, a link appeared saying "click here to download". So I did. But all I got was a blank web page containing the words "bad URL". So I waited for the second e-mail. It never came.
I called back and got a second rep who pulled up my case notes and quickly cut to the chase. He sent me another link. Same result. He said it was only his second day on the job, so he would have to check to see what the next step is.
His answer was that the program was not finished because of the recent tax law changes and that it won't load anywhere. THIS MEANS THAT EVERY BOX IN RETAIL STORES CONTAINING THIS PRODUCT HAS DEFECTIVE SOFTWARE THAT WON'T EVEN LOAD. You cannot patch or update tax tables in software that isn't even loaded in the first place.
I asked the rep how to resolve this. He said it's my responsibility to keep calling back starting about January 15, to see if the product is available. There is no process to keep a list of those needing the update, no compensation for time wasted.
Worse yet, can you imagine what this will do to the H&R Block call queues?


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H&R Block At Home Premium and Business
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